These may not be the sort of pictures that one puts up on a website. But hey, I still consider the hospital experience an adventure. In case you're interested, you can check them out here. Warning: the last picture may not appeal to sensitive viewers.

The mediport was installed today. I guess this means I had an interface upgrade. I didn't realize that this procedure involved my going into surgery until last week when it was all scheduled. So it was up this morning at sparrow's to get to the hospital at 6am. Prepped for my 7:30 admission to OR and then the whole deal with waking up in recovery wondering what had happened. Gratefully it all went well and now I have a little lump under my skin towards the top of my chest on my left side. That's where they'll stick the needle when I go through chemo.

Enjoyed a 20km ride yesterday with our biking buddies, Masha & Gena yesterday. Of course, I'm no Lance Armstrong, but even at the slower-than-normal pace, we had a terrific afternoon out. It seems that most of the trees have turned which puts us on the tail end of Fall. Not surprising considering Halloween is upon us.

Braved the cold this morning to stand in a long line at Dominicks to get my flu-shot. Actually, this was merely to get a paper so that I can get a flu-shot later. As you can imagine, I was the only "youngster" in a line of 65-ers and older. I did get the feeling a couple of times that I wasn't supposed to be there. The irony of the elderly being forced to stand outside in the morning cold for their flu and pneumonia shots did not go unnoticed.

I know these cancer updates are pretty mundane, but I promise they'll stop eventually - you know, once I've kicked it! Saw Dr. Bonomi today. He took a look at the PET scan and didn't think the mediastinum activity was healing. The suspicious activity is very telling of "metastatic lymphadenopathy" which is a cool way of saying my cancer has moved into my lymph nodes. This is something we already knew but based on this, my cancer is stage IIIb. The lack of activity in my right lung is what is keeping from being stage IV even though cancer cells are probably coarsing their way through my body as we speak. Still very curable and that is something to keep my sights on.

Somewhat positive news regarding my PET scan of last Friday. No "uptake" from my right lung (although, as the oncologist pointed out, this doesn't mean that my lung doesn't have cancer, but it's a lot better than what it could have been). There was considerable uptake from the mediastinum which is also not conclusive as I could still and probably are still healing from the surgery. So, at this point, without any evidence to the contrary, we appear to be dealing with a phase IIIa lung cancer.

Leane & William spoiled us again with another dinner cooked by them at our place. Unfortunately, I cannot remember the name of the Mexican soup she cooked, but it was remarkably delicious and enjoyed with tortillas, avocado, lime and other trimmings. We heard about one of William's e-spaghetti creations that involves ..., wait for it, ... grapefruit juice, vodka and ... chocolate soy milk! Definitely on the request list for the next meal they cook at our place :)

Enjoyed a return to the fitness club today with our Saturday morning session of Hatha yoga. I was able to get through most of it without a hitch, except that I was forced to go into child's-pose during downward-facing-dog. This would indicate that the recovery process is coming along.

It was PET scan day today. This is the big event we've been waiting for. Not a particularly harrowing experience except that the nurse struggled to get the IV into my hand and had to try again half way up my arm. I'm very happy to report she succeeded the second time around so I didn't have to play the role of pin-cushion for too long. I received a sedative before being infused with the radioactive glucose solution which is what makes the PET scan "work." Cancer cells, being more active than normal body cells, capture more of the glucose solution to metabolize it. The scanning device picks up the radioactive emmissions from the cancer cells as they tend to light up more than normal cells. Unfortunately, no results today since this all takes time to analyze so I won't know anything until I see the oncologist towards the middle of next week. Strange thing is, it wasn't until arriving home that I really got to experience the effects of the sedative.

Went to work yesterday. Well, didn't actually go to work, to work. The owners of our company threw a "thank-you" lunch for the RealTick team with the latest release of the product out of the door and receiving positive reviews. It was great to see the gang again even though only a month has passed since I was last in the office. Even better was to see them all dressed up in suits. Hard to imagine programmers cleaning up so well.

Today I was slotted into a cancellation to visit an ENT doctor. Well, for the uninitiated, that's an Ear Nose & Throat specialist (sure, you all knew that!). On the good side, I got to watch the TV output during my laryngoscopy. Quite amazing to see one's insides. On the bad side, my left vocal chord is paralysed, a side-effect of the nerve scraping that I endured while in surgery. A 50/50 chance that it will return to normal and it can take up to a year.

These are early days as someone who is a "cancer sufferer" and thoughts about what ails me are only now starting to hit home. I've been in a state of numb apathy since this whole fiasco began. But now a sober realization of this new reality is taking hold and what are my options? Adventure or Ordeal? I read something a few weeks ago that said the difference between the two is attitude. How does one get to keep an adventurous attitude through something like this?

My mom departed early this morning to head back to the UK. This sort of brings to a close a very hectic two weeks where my whole immediate family (and then some) descended upon our little home to help us through these troubling times. Although things have gone quiet, the being closer to normality is quite comforting.